School desk



March14,'1939. B HQURBIN v2,150,739

SCHOOL DESK Filed April 4, 1958 fnl/en Zar Benjamz'nhurbjzz ,fyf W,

Patented Mar. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

Formerly, and perhaps yet in some localities, school desks arranged in tiers or rows, were iastened directly and permanently to the iioor by screws passing through the cast iron feet. A later method is to fasten the desks by screws through feet to wooden strips, connecting together two or more or perhaps a whole tier of desks, generally nailed or screwed to the floor, but, whether 4secured to the floor or not, forming a raised obstruction to cleaning and waxing of the floor.

The object of this invention is to provide means for joining together feet of adjacent desks of a tier, but not the front and back feet of the same desk whereby the space between the feet on each side of each desk will always be open and unobstructed for sweeping and cleaning.

The object is thus to join together all of the desks of a tier Vor any number less thanV all, as convenience in moving sections less than the whole may dictate, whereby they may be moved easily, as for refinishing, sweeping, scrubbing and rewaxing, or to distribute the wear on the floor by changing the aisles of travel between the tiers,

,' or to change the seat arrangement to secure better light, and for other reasons.

Another object is to provide a desk that will be inexpensive to manufacture, light in weight yet sturdy, which will be easily fastened together for grouping to fit the size or shape of the school room and Ywhich can be easily moved by a single person, in either long or short sections, without marring the oor.

Another object is to utilize tubing for the legs, back and desk supports with wood seat, back and top and sheet metal book holder..

I accomplish the above and other objects which will hereinafter appear, by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a desk embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation showing a desk with a fragment of"a foot of an adjacent front and rear desk connected therewith in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 3 is a' detail in vertical section of a footjoint shown in Fig. 2, on a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a fragment of an end frame and seat connection;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6, and

Fig. V9 is a detail similar to Fig. 3 of a modified form of joint.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several iigures of the drawing.

Each desk is formed with two frames, one at each end of the desk of such like construction that a description of one will apply to both.

The frame is made out of round tubular metal, bent as best shown in Fig. 2, to have a substantially S-shape rear member 2, a front rearwardly inclined member 3 slightly bent to best t the students back. The members 2 and 3 are connected by the integral nearly horizontal member 4, preferably attened on top as shown in Fig. 4, to better support a wooden top 5. The lower ends of members 2 and 3 are continued horizontally for substantially one half oi the distance to the respective next adjacent desks to form feet 6 and 1. All of the corner bends are preferably rounded as shown. y

The members 2 and 3 are connected at the seat level by a tie-bar here shown as comprising a vertical strap 8 having its lower edge bent into an open inverted U-shape channel 9. Ears Il extended at the front end are perforated to receive a seat support I I which is bolted between the ears and has a rear extension I2, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, that seats in the channel 9 when the seat is down and in use. A wooden seat I3 is bolted to a front extension of the support II.

Resting upon and secured to the tie-bar is a sheet metal floor I4 and from this floor to the top of the desk is a plate I5, which is preferably formed out of the same sheet of metal bent up as shown. This forms a receptacle to hold books and the like. The desk back I6 is of wood which is bolted to the tubular member 3. The back I6 forms the front closure of the book receptacle.

An important feature of my invention is the connection of feet 6 and 'I of each desk with the feet of next adjacent desks in the same tier or row.

This is accomplished by inserting a metal dowel pin I1 within the two tubular ends to be joined. In the form shown in Fig. 3, the end of the dowel pin I'l is shown as inserted in the foot 6 and there retained by a rivet I8. The other end ofV pin Il is similarly inserted in the foot l where it is retained by screws I9, for easy assembly and removal when desired. The number of seats thus connected is optional with the user, butin all cases an unobstructed space is obtained next to the floor between the feet of members 2 and 3 for easy and sanitary janitor service.

In the modication shown in Fig. 9, the pin I1 has right and left screw-threads on opposite ends and the tubular feet are correspondingly threaded. The pin has a middle formation 2l) to engage a wrench for turning the pin entering and removing it.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity a preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but I intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A school desk having a top, back and seat, a tubular metal frame on each side of the desk to which the top and back are attached, said frame for each side 'of the desk comprising a pair of upright members connected by an integral transverse member at their tops and said upright members terminating at their lower ends with outturned horizontal feet, a bar connecting the upright members of each frame at the level of the seat, said bar having an underside channel, and a seat-supporting bar pivoted at an end of the channel and having an extension back of the pivot contacting the inside of the channel and arresting the downward movement of the seat in the position of the seat for use.

2. A school desk having a wooden top, back and seat, a tubular metal frame circular in cross section, on each side of the desk to which the top and back are fastened, said frame for each side of the desk comprising a pair of upright members connected at their tops by an integral transverse member flattened'on its upper side for contact with the top and said upright members having their lower ends spread apart and terminating with outturned horizontal tubular feet, a bar connecting the upright members of each frame at the level of the seat, said bar having an underside channel and a seat supporting bar for each frame pivoted at an end of the channel and having an extension back of the pivot which contacts the inside of the channel and arrests the downward movement of the seat in Ithe position of the seat for use.

3. A school desk having a top, back and seat, a tubular metal frame on each side of the desk to which the top and back are attached, said frame for each side of the desk comprising a pair of upright members connected by an integral transverse member at ytheir tops and said upright members terminating at their lower ends with outturned horizontal feet, a bar connecting the upright members of each frame at the level of the seat, said bar having an underside channel, and a seat-supporting bar pivoted at an end of the channel and having an extension back of the pivot contacting the inside of the channel and arresting the downward mo-vement of the seat in the position of the seat for use, and a book holding receptacle formed of a `sheet of metal supported on the transverse bars at the seat level and having a portion of the sheet of metal bent up to form the back wall of the closure.

4. The combination of two or more school desks each having a top, back and seat, a tubular metal frame on each side of the desk to which the top and back are attached, said frame for each side of the desk comprising a pair of upright members connected by anv integral transverse member at their tops and said upright members terminating at ltheir lower ends with outturned tubular feet of which the feet of one desk are adapted to contact with feet of the next -desk of a row, and a dowel pin entering adjacent tubular feet and means for retaining the pins in the feet.

5. The combination of two or more school desks each havingra top, back and seat, a tubular metal frame on each side of the desk to which the top and back are attached, said frame for each side of the. desk comprising a pair of upright members connected by an integral transverse member at their tops and said upright members terminating at their lower ends with outturned tubular horizontal feet, of which the feet of one desk are adapted to contact with feet of the next desk of a row, and a threaded dowel pin screw-threadedly connecting the contacting feet.

BENJAMIN H. DURBIN. 

